St. Henry parishioner receives highest Scouting volunteer award

Important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, and the death of a loved one etch themselves into the memory. But for St. Henry Church parishioner Bill Schlueter, there is one more important date.

“I joined Boy Scouts May 28, 1959, per the invitation of a friend in St. Louis. I was 12,” Schlueter recalls.

Scouting allowed him to combine his love of the outdoors with its regular opportunities to swim, fish, camp and hike. As an added attraction, Scouting brought challenges of rank advancement and leadership opportunities to a maturing young man.

With the exception of a few years in between college and the time his son Chris was old enough to join Webelos, Schlueter’s involvement in Scouting has been continuous and dedicated.

He was first a leader of Webelos Pack 80 at St. Henry, then of Boy Scout Troop 6 where he has remained a leader long after Chris became an Eagle Scout and went off to college.

Schlueter’s devotion to the Boy Scouts was recognized April 22 when, at the Allen Arena of Lipscomb University, he, along with 11 others, was bestowed the Silver Beaver Award by the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It is the highest national honor that can be given to a volunteer.

While Schlueter was notified of the nomination, the application is made without the nominee’s knowledge. The four-page form requires information on the volunteer’s service roles at council, district and unit levels, an essay of his “significant council-level service to youth,” various training courses, scouting recognitions, in addition to “noteworthy service of exceptional character to youth outside of Scouting” and “noteworthy comments of the nominee’s standing in the community.”

For Schlueter, a father of two, grandfather of six, husband of 45 years to his wife Joan, and a Vietnam-era Army veteran, being a Scout leader of a troop based in his home parish has been an opportunity to help boys advance in their leadership, creativity, physicality and spiritual formation.

He helps them earn the Ad Alteri Dei religious award, heads up the high adventure program, and assists them in the work for the music merit badge. He said also he “just wants to be there for them.”

In his way, he is “paying forward” the work he benefitted from as a boy by a leader who also received the Silver Beaver award.

“As a youth in St. Louis, I knew of only one Scout leader who had been awarded the Silver Beaver Award,” Schlueter said. “He was a hero to me. He was very active in our troop, he was district commissioner. Still, he took the time to review us for our rank advancements and spend personal time with us showing sincere concern. I was proud of him. His being a Silver Beaver meant a lot to me then, as does having received it myself.”

Being a Scout and a Catholic also weave seamlessly together.

“What is a Catholic?” Schlueter, a real estate professional, pianist and band leader, reflects. “Someone who loves Jesus, which I do, someone who lives a good life and sets a good example, which I try to do, someone who considers the needs of others and works to help bring out the best in others. …

“All of these are Scouting values,” Schlueter said.

He also notes that the Scout oath begins with, “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God.”

Addressing physical rigor is another important aspect of helping the Scouts along with their development. At this point, Schlueter has made 12 trips to Philmont Scout Camp, a place that promises high adventure in the rugged New Mexico wilderness. He also went there 11 years ago shortly after open heart surgery, vowing that the operation wasn’t going to stop him.

“I love the beauty of New Mexico and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,” he said. “But the more I’ve gone there, the more my greatest satisfaction is from watching the Scouts develop as a team.”

It’s 12 days of hiking, backpacking, horseback riding and other challenges. Schlueter admits to being a “helicopter leader” for the first half of the trek, but then the Scouts experience an “a-ha” moment and he backs off.

“Lessons I’ve learned can be summed up with three T’s,” Schlueter said. “Teach them. Trust them. Turn them loose.”

Now, he and the Scouts needn’t wait for a trip to New Mexico for the adventures and lessons. Back in 2006, Schlueuter decided to hunt for some land to create his own Philmont. He initially began searching in the Sparta area because he enjoyed camping there, but couldn’t find what he wanted and tried searching about 30 minutes from home. He found eight acres about 30 minutes from St. Henry in Kingston Springs on the Harpeth River adjacent to the narrows of Harpeth State Park.

Not only was the land in a flood plain, preventing any building of permanent structures, it was also densely overgrown and filled with all kinds of river debris, snakes, and dead animals.

But Schlueter had a vision for the land. It took about six months to clean it up and get is safe for the Scouts.

One Scouter suggested he name it “Billmont” using a play on his name and referencing his many trips to Philmont. The site is open year-round to Scouts. He has also opened it up to church camp groups and to the Cheatham County police and fire departments to conduct their search and rescue drills.

Billmont remains a simple place for those who want to spend time in nature. A flag pole, picnic table, and one-hole outhouse are the only amenities. Schlueter and his family maintain the property, which is constant due to the proximity to the river.

The 2010 flood, as it did with so many other properties along the Harpeth, devastated Billmont, taking out trees and requiring a bulldozer to pull up all the wreckage, culminating in a big camp fire. Each year, Schlueter buys 100 seedlings from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for the Scouts to plant as a conservation project. Each year, between the tenacity of the river and beavers, they end up with about five seedlings surviving.

Troop 6 built a 12-foot lookout tower and a 20- to 25-foot monkey bridge that they use for challenges.

April 28-29 was the Big Adventure Weekend when Billmont hosted nearly 20 Webelos and their parents, along with another 20 Boy Scouts for cooking, canoeing, fishing and demonstrations of fire-building, knife and axe sharpening, raising, lowering, and folding of the American flag. Father Mark Beckman, pastor of St. Henry, celebrated Mass.